The Square Deal was President Theodore Roosevelt's domestic program. He explained in 1910:

When I say that I am for the square deal, I mean not merely that I stand for fair play under the present rules of the game, but that I stand for having those rules changed so as to work for a more substantial equality of opportunity and of reward for equally good service.[1]

Roosevelt reflected three basic goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection.[2] These three demands are often referred to as the "three C's" of Roosevelt's Square Deal. Thus, it aimed at helping middle class citizens and involved attacking plutocracy and bad trusts while at the same time protecting business from the most extreme demands of organized labor. A progressive Republican, Roosevelt believed in government action to mitigate social evils, and as president he in 1908 denounced "the representatives of predatory wealth” as guilty of “all forms of iniquity from the oppression of wage workers to unfair and unwholesome methods of crushing competition, and to defrauding the public by stock-jobbing and the manipulation of securities."[3]

During his second term, Roosevelt tried to extend his Square Deal further, but was blocked by conservative Republicans in Congress.

In 1903, with Roosevelt's support, Congress passed the Elkins Act. This stated that railroads were not allowed to give rebates to favored companies any longer. These rebates had treated small Midwestern farmers unfairly by not allowing them equal access to the services of the railroad. The Interstate Commerce Commission controlled the prices that railroads could charge.

Legislation was passed which specified that meat had to be processed safely with proper sanitation. Foodstuffs and drugs could no longer be mislabeled, nor could consumers be deliberately misled.

Roosevelt gave high priority to environmental conservation, and safeguarded millions of acres of wilderness from commercial exploitation.[4] Roosevelt’s conservation efforts were driven by practicality as well as by a love for nature. Influenced by early wise-use advocates like Gifford Pinchot, Roosevelt believed that nature existed to benefit humanity. In a conserved wilderness, water could be taken to irrigate farmland, sport could be had, and timber could be harvested. Acting on these beliefs, Roosevelt set up the federal Reclamation Service in 1902. The agency, through the use of dams and irrigation, created arable land in areas that had been too dry to farm, and the Reclamation Service eventually brought millions of acres of farmland into service. During Roosevelt's time in office, 24 reclamation projects were set up, and 150 national forests were created.[5]

In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes (injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business). He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws). He called for an eight-hour law for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system to provide competition to local banks, and, finally, campaign finance reform.

He secured passage of the Hepburn Act in 1906, which increased the regulating power of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Eventually many of the proposals he championed were enacted under Democrats Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. When Roosevelt ran for president on an independent Progressive Party ticket in 1912, in addition to these policies he proposed stringent new controls on the court system, especially state courts, to make them more democratic. His court policies in particular caused his anointed successor, William Howard Taft, to lead a counter-crusade that defeated Roosevelt in 1912.[7]

Labor unions in the age of Samuel Gompers were generally on the Democratic side, but Roosevelt felt that favorable policies toward them would gain votes or at least neutralize their opposition.[8] He had opposed unions in 1896, when they supported William Jennings Bryan, then came to appreciate their value after 1900. He played a central role in negotiating a compromise to end the Coal strike of 1902, which was threatening the nation's energy supply.[9] He decided they also needed a square deal, and a stronger voice and collective bargaining with corporations. [10][11]

A measure was approved that providing that eight hours should constitute a day’s labor on irrigation works.[12]

Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the Philippine Islands, with violation of the Act being punishable by forfeiture of contracts and a fine of not less than $10,000.[12]

A measure was approved safeguarding the lives of employees in mines in Territories by regulating the amount of ventilation and providing that entries, etc., should be kept well dampened with water to cause coal dust to settle.[12]

A measure was approved exempting from taxation in the District of Columbia household effects to the value of $1,000, wearing apparel, libraries, school books, family portraits and heirlooms.[12]

A measure was approved providing for Government supervision of employment agencies in the District of Columbia.[12]

An Act relating to safety appliances on railroad trains was improved.[12]

A measure was approved requiring the collection of labor statistics in Hawaii.[12]

A measure was approved to provide for an investigation of women and child labor in the United States.[12]

A measure was approved restricting child labor in the District of Columbia.[12]

A measure was approved incorporating the National Child Labor Committee.[12]

A measure was approved establishing the Foundation for the Promotion of Industrial Peace.[12]

A measure was approved to regulate the hours of labor of railroad employees in the District of Columbia and the Territories.[12]

A measure was approved making railroad companies engaged in interstate commerce or operating in the District of Columbia, the Territories, the Panama Canal Zone, or other United States possessions, liable for injuries to, or death of, employees while on duty.[12]

A measure was approved safeguarding the lives of miners in the Territories and the District of Alaska.[12]

A measure was approved permitting leave of absence, with pay, on Labor Day to per diem employees of the Government.[12]

A measure was approved granting to injured employees on the Panama Canal absence, with pay for time necessarily lost as a result of injuries.[12]

The Federal Employee’s Compensation Act of 1908 provided workers’ compensation for a number of federal employees.[15]

Legislation was introduced (1902) that expanded the scientific work of the Acoustic Laboratory and appropriated a budget specific to the laboratory’s work.[16]

An Act of 1903 enabled the Secretary of Agriculture “to prevent the spread of contagious and infectious diseases of live-stock.”[17]

In 1902, $5,000 was appropriated to the Bureau of Chemistry by Congress “to study chemical preservatives and colors and their effects on digestion and health,” with studies drawing attention to the problem of food adulteration.[18]

The Oleomargarine Act (1902) authorized the definition of oleomargarine “for the purpose of collecting taxes on imported product, and also to discourage imitation of butter.”[19]

The Biologics Control Act was passed (1902) “to ensure purity and safety of serums, vaccines, and similar products used to prevent or treat diseases in humans.”[20]

An Act of 1903 enabled the Secretary of Agriculture “to prevent the spread of contagious and infectious diseases of live-stock.”[21]

The Bureau of the Census was authorized (1902) to collect information related to health and disease from around the country.[22]

The first Certified Color Regulations (1907) listed 7 colors found suitable for use in foods.[23]

A Housing Commission was appointed (1908) to evaluate slum conditions.[24]

Corporate welfare work was encouraged by the Roosevelt Administration; a policy continued under Roosevelt's successor William Howard Taft.[25]

In one of a series of acts aimed at regulating the harvesting of Alaskan wildlife, Congress passed "An Act For the protection of game in Alaska, and for other purposes," known as the Alaska Game Act, protecting certain game animals in Alaska.[29]

The Civil War program was transformed into a system of old-age pensions for Union veterans. His executive order of 1904 declared that old age itself constituted a disability: “When a claimant has passed the age of sixty-two years he is disabled one-half in ability to perform manual labor and is entitled to be rated at six dollars a month; after sixty-five years at eight dollars a month; after sixty-eight years at ten dollars a month, and after seventy years at twelve dollars a month.” This order provided tens of thousands of Union veterans with non-contributory old-age pensions.[35]

A 1906 statute provided for veterans that “the age of sixty-two years and over shall be considered a permanent specific disability within the meaning of the pension laws.”[36]

In 1907, the pension provisions of the federal government were extended to all Civil War Union veterans, regardless of whether they were disabled or not.[36]

Dalton, Kathleen. "Changing interpretations of Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive era." in Christopher M. Nichols and Nancy C. Unger, eds A Companion to the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (2017): 296-307.